Definition
In Scots law, a matrimonial action by which either spouse could compel the other to fulfill the mutual obligation of cohabitation arising from the marriage contract. Adherence was the Scottish equivalent of the English action for restitution of conjugal rights — a remedy that required the court to order a deserting or absent spouse to return to the matrimonial home. The action could be brought by either husband or wife, distinguishing it from some contemporary English remedies that were asymmetrical in their application.
The term carries a second, narrower legal meaning found in general jurisprudence: adherence to a contract, judgment, or legal position, meaning continued compliance with or acceptance of its terms. In treaty law, "adherence" also describes the act by which a state formally joins a treaty to which it was not an original signatory — distinct from ratification, which applies to original parties.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Faithful support for some cause"; also "a close physical union of two objects" and, in medical contexts, the extent to which a patient follows an agreed treatment plan.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "The state of being fixed in attachment; fidelity; steady attachment; adhesion."
The common meaning — loyalty, faithful attachment — is directionally related to the legal meaning but misses its procedural force. In Scots law, adherence was not merely a sentiment or obligation but an enforceable judicial remedy. A researcher encountering the term in historical Scottish legal records should read it as a specific form of action, not a general statement about marital fidelity.
Common Confusion
Adherence (Scots) vs. Restitution of Conjugal Rights (English): These actions were functional equivalents, but the terminology differs across jurisdictions. Historical sources that use one term may not cross-reference the other, creating a gap when researching comparative matrimonial law across Scottish and English sources. Additionally, the treaty-law sense of adherence — a state joining an existing convention — is sometimes confused with ratification or accession. Accession and adherence are often used interchangeably in older instruments, but modern treaty practice tends to prefer accession for post-signature joining by non-original parties.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in the Law Mind corpus should flag several navigational issues:
First, the Scots law action of adherence belongs to a family of matrimonial remedies that became obsolete or were abolished in most common law and mixed jurisdictions during the twentieth century. English restitution of conjugal rights was abolished by the Matrimonial Proceedings and Property Act 1970. Scottish law similarly moved away from enforcement of cohabitation obligations. Corpus materials from before roughly 1970 may treat adherence as a live remedy; materials after that date will likely discuss it in historical or comparative terms only.
Second, the term's meaning shifts depending on the legal context in which it appears. A treatise on Scots family law, a public international law text on treaty practice, and a contracts casebook may all use "adherence" in distinct technical senses. Keyword searches on adherence without contextual filtering will surface false positives across these domains.
Third, the medical compliance sense (patient adherence to treatment) has become dominant in contemporary usage outside law, which means general-purpose dictionary sources and modern search results will skew toward that meaning. Historical legal corpus research requires deliberate disambiguation.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both editions of Black's Law Dictionary (1st and 2nd) give identical entries, defining adherence exclusively as a Scots law matrimonial action and citing Bell — a reference to George Joseph Bell's authoritative works on Scots law, particularly his Principles of the Law of Scotland. The entries cross-reference the English action for restitution of conjugal rights, appropriately situating the Scots remedy in comparative context.
Notable absence: neither edition of Black's addresses the treaty-law sense of adherence, nor the general contractual sense. This is consistent with the period's focus on domestic private law but leaves a gap for researchers working in public international law or general jurisprudence. The historical dictionaries are reliable as far as they go but should not be treated as exhaustive accounts of the term's full legal range.
Jurisdictional Note
The matrimonial action of adherence was specific to Scots law and has no direct common law counterpart under that name. Functionally analogous remedies existed in England (restitution of conjugal rights) and some Commonwealth jurisdictions, but under different terminology. The treaty-law sense of adherence is used in international instruments without strict jurisdictional limitation, though practice varies by treaty and organization.